Print control apparatus, print control system and print apparatus

ABSTRACT

A print control apparatus in which a plurality of print apparatuses having a hold print function are caused to hold print data, and the print data of other print apparatuses other than a print apparatus print-instructed by a user is deleted, is provided. A print server is connected to the plurality of printers having a hold print function through a network. The print server includes a print data transmission portion that transmits print data received from a PC to printers to cause the printers to hold the print data, and a print data deletion instruction portion that, when a print notification of the print data is received from any one of the plurality of the printers, instructs other printers other than the printer to delete the print data.

CROSS-NOTING PARAGRAPH

This Nonprovisional application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119(a)on Patent Application No. 2007-111474 filed in JAPAN on Apr. 20, 2007and Patent Application No. 2007-111514 filed in JAPAN on Apr. 20, 2007the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein byreferences.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a print control apparatus, a printcontrol system, a print apparatus, and more specifically, relates to aprint control apparatus, a print control system and a print apparatus,that transmit print data to a plurality of print apparatuses having ahold print function.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Print apparatuses (printers) having a hold print function are generallyused. According to the hold print function, print data print-instructedby a user is temporarily held on a hard disc in a printer. When the userinputs such as a password to the printer at a desired timing, then theprint data can be printed out.

By using the hold print function, only specified user who knows thepassword can perform a print output at a desired timing, thus making itpossible to attain the protection of the security for such as importantdocuments and confidential documents. Further, it is also possible todelete the print data as it is from the printer without printing out,when the print data becomes unnecessary after having made the printinstruction.

On the other hand, increasing number of companies etc, use a PC(personal computer) for transmitting print data, a print server, and aplurality of printers by connecting to a network. A technology that aprint server transmits print data received from a PC simultaneously to aplurality of printers to perform a parallel printing in such a networkenvironment, has been known (refer to, for example, Japanese Laid-OpenPatent Publication No. 2001-282488).

In the technology described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No.2001-282488, a multicast transmission of print data is performed as apacket to a plurality of network printers, and a state of packettransmission/reception in the network printers subject to the multicasttransmission is monitored, to thereby perform a control of atransmission, a stand-by, and a retransmission of the packet.

Further, in PCT publication No. WO2005/17738, a technology that aplurality of printers are inquired as to the possibility of a printingand print data is transmitted to the printer that has answered that theprinting is possible, is disclosed. According to the technology, theprint data is transmitted to the printer capable of printing, resultingthat the printing can be performed surely.

In addition, in such a network environment, when it is considered that aprint service is provided to users moving in an office or a factory, itis not necessarily efficient for users moving very often to make only aspecified printer as an output destination. For example, in many casesit is more efficient that a printer that is located on the way to adestination is made as the output destination.

For example, in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2004-94777, aprint service for users moving in a network environment is proposed. Inthe print service, a printer to be an output destination is determinedin consideration of a moving route or a moving time of a user, and aprinting time by a printer.

However, the technology described in Japanese Laid-Open PatentPublication No. 2001-282488 is not for a printer having a hold printfunction, and therefore all of print data transmitted to a plurality ofprinters are printed out without being held temporarily. In addition,the technology described in PCT publication No. WO2005/17738 is also notfor a printer having a hold print function, and therefore print datatransmitted to a printer capable of printing is printed out withoutbeing held temporarily. Thus, when a user carelessly forgets that theuser has made a print instruction to a printer, a printed matter is leftin the printer, causing a risk that important information is leaked to athird person if the printed matter is such as a confidential document.

In the conventional technologies as described above, it has not beenconsidered to perform a hold printing when a plurality of printers areconnected in the network environment. In other words, a use form that aplurality of printers having a hold print function are connected to anetwork, and print data is simultaneously transmitted for the network tocause each of the printers to hold the print data, has not beenconsidered. If such a use form is realized, a user is allowed to printout necessary print data by inputting a password in any printer on thenetwork, thus making it possible to improve usability for a user and toattain a protection of confidential information.

In addition, when a user causes a desired printer to perform a printoutput, print data that is held by other printers on the network becomesunnecessary. Remaining the unnecessary print data in the printers causesa waste use of a disc capacity, and it is not desirable in terms of thesecurity. Conventionally, in order to delete print data from a printer,a method of deleting the print data directly from the printer to whichthe user has transmitted the print data, or a method of sending aninstruction to delete the print data in the printer from a PC of theuser, has been required, causing a problem that a deleting operationtakes a time.

Further, in the technology described in Japanese Laid-Open PatentPublication No. 2004-94777, it is not considered that a hold printing isperformed when a plurality of printers are connected in the networkenvironment. In other words, a use form that a plurality of printershaving a hold print function are connected to a network, and print datais transmitted to the printers on the network to be held by theprinters, has not been considered. Thus, when a user carelessly forgetsthat the user has made a print instruction to a printer, a printedmatter is left in the printer, causing a risk that important informationis leaked to a third person if the printed matter is such as aconfidential document. That is the case especially when a printer at aremote place such as a movement destination of a user becomes an outputdestination.

In addition, when print data is held by a plurality of printers on anetwork and a user causes a desired printer to perform a print output,the print data held by other printers on the network becomesunnecessary. Remaining the unnecessary print data in the printer causesa waste use of a disc capacity, and it is not desirable in terms of thesecurity. Conventionally, in order to delete print data from a printer,a method of deleting the print data directly from the printer to whichthe user has transmitted the print data, or a method of sending aninstruction to delete the print data in the printer from a PC of theuser, has been required, causing a problem that a deleting operationtakes a time.

Further, in the technology described in Japanese Laid-Open PatentPublication No. 2004-94777, an output destination printer can not bedetermined unless a migration route of a user is known in advance.Accordingly, when the user changes the migration route, there arises aproblem that an output destination printer can not be determined unlessthe migration route is registered each time.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a print controlapparatus, a print control system and a print apparatus, in which aplurality of print apparatuses having a hold print function are causedto hold print data, and the print data in other print apparatuses otherthan a print apparatus print-instructed by a user is deleted.

Further, an object of the present invention is to provide a printcontrol apparatus and a print apparatus, in which two or more printapparatuses near a user position among a plurality of print apparatuseshaving a hold print function are caused to hold print data, and theprint data in print apparatuses other than a print apparatusprint-instructed by a user is deleted.

Another object of the present invention is a print control apparatusthat is connected to a plurality of print apparatuses having a holdprint function through a network, comprising: a print data transmissionportion that transmits print data received from a user terminal to theplurality of print apparatuses to cause the plurality of printapparatuses to hold the print data; and a print data deletioninstruction portion that, when a print notification of the print data isreceived from any one of the plurality of print apparatuses, instructsother print apparatuses other than the print apparatus to delete theprint data.

Another object of the present invention is the print control apparatus,wherein the print data transmission portion transmits a part of theprint data to the plurality of print apparatuses in accordance with aprinting order of the print data to cause the plurality of printapparatuses to hold the part of the print data.

Another object of the present invention is the print control apparatus,further comprising a storage portion that stores each of stateinformation of the plurality of print apparatuses, wherein the printdata transmission portion differentiates a transmission amount of theprint data to each of the plurality of print apparatuses depending onthe state information stored in the storage portion.

Another object of the present invention is the print control apparatus,wherein the state information is a print performance or a print functionincluded in each of the plurality of print apparatuses.

Another object of the present invention is the print control apparatus,wherein the state information is a job state that each of the pluralityof print apparatuses receives.

Another object of the present invention is the print control apparatus,wherein the state information is a communication state about a networkto which each of the plurality of print apparatuses is connected.

Another object of the present invention is the print control apparatus,wherein in a case where the plurality of print apparatuses hold the partof the print data, when a print notification of the print data isreceived from any one of the plurality of print apparatuses, the printdata transmission portion transmits remaining data of the print data tothe print apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is the print control apparatus,wherein when the print notification of the print data is received fromany one of the plurality of print apparatuses, the print data deletioninstruction portion instructs the other print apparatuses other than theprint apparatus to delete an amount of the print data that a printing iscompleted by the print apparatus, based on information, included in theprint notification, of the amount of the print data that the printing iscompleted by the print apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is the print control apparatus,wherein in a case where the plurality of print apparatuses hold the partof the print data, when the print notification of the print data isreceived from any one of the plurality of print apparatuses, the printdata transmission portion transmits remaining data of the print data tothe other print apparatuses other than the print apparatus, and theprint data deletion instruction portion instructs the other printapparatuses to delete an amount of the print data that a printing iscompleted by the print apparatus, based on information, included in theprint notification, of the amount of the print data that the printing iscompleted by the print apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is a print control apparatusthat is connected to a plurality of print apparatuses having a holdprint function through a network, comprising: a user positioninformation acquisition portion that acquires user position information;a print apparatus extraction portion that extracts two or more printapparatuses near the user position based on the acquired user positioninformation; a print data transmission portion that transmits print datareceived from a user terminal to each of the print apparatuses extractedby the print apparatus extraction portion to cause each of the printapparatuses to hold the print data; a print data deletion instructionportion that, when a print notification of the print data is receivedfrom any one of each of the print apparatuses, instructs other printapparatuses other than the print apparatus to delete the print data.

Another object of the present invention is the print Control apparatus,wherein the print data transmission portion transmits a part of theprint data to each of the print apparatuses in accordance with aprinting order of the print data to cause each of the print apparatusesto hold the part of the print data.

Another object of the present invention is the print control apparatus,wherein the print data transmission portion differentiates atransmission amount of the print data to each of the print apparatusesdepending on a distance between the user position based on the userposition information and each of the print apparatuses.

Another object of the present invention is the print control apparatus,wherein in a case where each of the print apparatuses holds the part ofthe print data, when a print notification of the print data is receivedfrom any one of each of the print apparatuses, the print datatransmission portion transmits remaining data of the print data to theprint apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is the print control apparatus,wherein when the print notification of the print data is received fromany one of each of the print apparatuses, the print data deletioninstruction portion instructs the other print apparatuses other than theprint apparatus to delete an amount of the print data that a printing iscompleted by the print apparatus, based on information, included in theprint notification, of the amount of the print data that the printing iscompleted by the print apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is the print control apparatus,further comprising a storage portion that stores a history about theuser position information acquired by the user position informationacquisition portion, wherein when the user position information acquiredby the user position information acquisition portion and previous userposition information stored in the storage portion are different, theprint apparatus extraction portion extracts new print apparatuses to bea transmission destination of the print data.

Another object of the present invention is the print control apparatus,wherein when the new print apparatuses are extracted by the printapparatus extraction portion, the print data deletion instructionportion instructs the print apparatuses extracted based on the previoususer position information to delete the print data.

Another object of the present invention is the print control apparatus,wherein the print apparatus extraction portion acquires informationabout a migration route of a user from the history of the user positioninformation stored in the storage portion to extract the printapparatuses to be the transmission destination of the print data basedon the information about the migration route.

Another object of the present invention is the print control apparatus,wherein the print data transmission portion weights an amount of theprint data to be transmitted to each of the print apparatuses extractedby the print apparatus extraction portion based on the information aboutthe migration route.

Another object of the present invention is the print control apparatus,wherein the user position information acquisition portion communicateswith a portable terminal having a GPS function used by a user to acquirethe user position information.

Another object of the present invention is a print control systemprovided with a plurality of print apparatuses having a hold printfunction, and a print control apparatus that is connected to theplurality of print apparatuses through a network, wherein the printcontrol apparatus includes a print data transmission portion thattransmits print data received from a user terminal to the plurality ofprint apparatuses to cause the plurality of print apparatuses to holdthe print data, and in the plurality of print apparatuses, when a printnotification of the print data is transmitted from any one of theplurality of print apparatuses to other print apparatuses by a useroperation, the other print apparatuses delete the print data in responseto the print notification.

Another object of the present invention is a print apparatus that isconnected to a user terminal through a network, comprising: a networkinterface that is connected to other plurality of print apparatuseshaving a hold print function through a network; a print datatransmission portion that transmits print data received from the userterminal to the plurality of other print apparatuses to cause the otherplurality of print apparatuses to hold the print data; and a print datadeletion instruction portion that, when a print notification of theprint data is received from any one of the other plurality of printapparatuses, instructs other print apparatuses other than the printapparatus to delete the print data.

Another object of the present invention is the print apparatus that isconnected to the print control apparatus through the network, furthercomprising:

a storage portion that stores the print data transmitted from the printcontrol apparatus; a print instruction portion that performs a printinstruction with respect to the print data stored in the storageportion;a print portion that executes a print processing of the print data bythe print instruction from the print instruction portion; and a printnotification portion that, when the print processing by the printportion is interrupted, notifies information of an amount of the printdata that the printing is completed before interrupting the printing.

Another object of the present invention is the print apparatus, whereinthe print portion interrupts the print processing based on a print stopcommand by a user, or an error during printing.

Another object of the present invention is a print apparatus that isconnected to a user terminal through a network, comprising: a networkinterface that is connected to other plurality of print apparatuseshaving a hold print function through a network; a user positioninformation acquisition portion that acquires user position information;a print apparatus extraction portion that extracts two or more otherprint apparatuses near the user position based on the acquired userposition information; a print data transmission portion that transmitsprint data received from the user terminal to the each of other printapparatuses extracted by the print apparatus extraction portion to causeeach of the other print apparatuses to hold the print data; and a printdata deletion instruction portion that, when a print notification of theprint data is received from any one of each of the other printapparatuses, instructs other print apparatuses other than the printapparatus to delete the print data.

Another object of the present invention is the print apparatus connectedto the print control apparatus through the network, further comprising:a storage portion that stores the print data transmitted from the printcontrol apparatus; a print instruction portion that performs a printinstruction with respect to the print data stored in the storageportion; a print portion that executes a print processing of the printdata by the print instruction from the print instruction portion; and aprint notification portion that, when the print processing by the printportion is interrupted, notifies information of an amount of the printdata that the printing is completed before interrupting the printing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a printcontrol system provided with a print control apparatus of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams showing an example of management tablesstored in a storage portion of a print server;

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of a hold print processingflow according to the print control system of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a print controlmethod by a print server according to the present invention;

FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a print datatransmission processing of step S103 shown in FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a print dataallocation processing of step S111 shown in FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart for explaining another example of the print dataallocation processing of step S111 shown in FIG. 13;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart for explaining a processing when no printnotification is made at step S105 shown in FIG. 12;

FIG. 17 is a flowchart for explaining an operation example of a printeraccording to the present invention;

FIG. 18 is a flowchart for explaining a processing when no print commandis made by a user at step S153 shown in FIG. 17;

FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of theprint control system provided with the print control apparatus of thepresent invention;

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a print data management tablestored in the storage portion of the print server;

FIG. 21 is a diagram for explaining an example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 22 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 23 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 24 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 25 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention;

FIGS. 26A and 26B are diagrams for explaining another example of thehold print processing flow according to the print control system of thepresent invention;

FIG. 27 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 28 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 29 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 30 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 31 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 32 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 33 is a diagram for explaining an example of the print controlmethod by the print server according to the present invention;

FIG. 34 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a print datatransmission processing of step S315 shown in FIG. 33;

FIG. 35 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a print dataallocation processing of steps S323 and S327 shown in FIG. 34;

FIG. 36 is a flowchart for explaining another example of the print dataallocation processing of steps S323 and S327 shown in FIG. 34;

FIG. 37 is a flowchart for explaining an extraction processing of nearprinters of step S325 shown in FIG. 34;

FIG. 38 is a flowchart for explaining a processing when no printnotification is made at step S317 shown in FIG. 33;

FIG. 39 is a flowchart for explaining an operation example of theprinter according to the present invention;

FIG. 40 is a flowchart for explaining a processing when no print commandis made by a user at step S383 shown in FIG. 39.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an exemplary configuration of a printcontrol system provided with a print control apparatus of the presentinvention. 1 denotes a print server that corresponds to the printcontrol apparatus of the present invention, 2 a to 2 c denote printersthat correspond to the print apparatus of the present invention, and 3denotes a PC that corresponds to a user terminal of the presentinvention. The print server 1, the printers 2 a to 2 c, and the PC 3 areconnected through a network, and any of the printers 2 a to 2 c have ahold print function.

The print server 1 includes a control portion 11 that is constituted bysuch as a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and that controls operations ofdevices; a storage portion 12 that is constituted by such as a hard discand a nonvolatile memory; and a network I/F 13 that is connected to theprinters 2 a to 2 c and the PC 3 through a network. In addition, thecontrol portion 11 is constituted by a print data storage managementportion 111 that stores and manages print data 121 transmitted from thePC 3 in the storage portion 12; a transmission destination printerextraction portion 112 that extracts printers to be a transmissiondestination of the print data 121; a transmission page allocationportion 113 that performs an allocation of pages to transmit to each ofthe printers; a print data transmission portion 114 that transmits theprint data 121 simultaneously to each of the printers; and a print datadeletion instruction portion 115 that transmits a deletion command ofprint data to other printers if a print notification is made from aprinter print-instructed by a user.

Each of the portions included in the control portion 11, i.e., the printdata storage management portion 111, the transmission destinationprinter extraction portion 112, the transmission page allocation portion113, the print data transmission portion 114, and the print datadeletion instruction portion 115, are constituted as an executable printcontrol program by the print server 1. The print control program isstored in the storage portion 12 etc., and read by the control portion11 in executing the program to be executed appropriately.

Further, the PC 3 includes a control portion 31 that is constituted bysuch as a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and that controls operations ofdevices; an operation portion 32 that performs such as an operation oftransmitting print data; and a network I/F 33 that is connected to theprinters 2 a to 2 c and the print server 1 through a network. Further,the control portion 31 includes a print data transmission portion 311serving as a printer driver, and that transmits print data to the printserver 1 depending on an operation instruction from the operationportion 32.

In FIG. 1, when the print server 1 receives the print data 121transmitted from the control portion 31 of the PC 3 on the network, theprint data storage management portion 111 stores the print data 121 inthe storage portion 12. When the print data 121 is stored in the storageportion 12, the transmission destination printer extraction portion 112of the print server 1 extracts printers to be a transmission destinationof the print data 121. For example, all of the printers on the samenetwork may be extracted.

The transmission page allocation portion 113 allocates the number ofpages of the print data to be transmitted to each of the printersextracted by the transmission destination printer extraction portion112. For example, the number of pages of print data may be increased inthe case of a high-speed printer so that a print processing time after aprint instruction to the high-speed printer was made is shortened.

The print data transmission portion 114 transmits the allocated pagenumber of print data by the transmission page allocation portion 113 toeach of the printers. The print data transmission portion 114 causeseach of the printers to hold the print data if an instruction of a holdprint is made from the PC 3. Herein, the print data transmission portion114 may transmit the print data by developing into a common bitmapformat to each of the printers to be a transmission destination of theprint data, or by previously storing information of a printer language(PDL: Page Description Language) corresponding to each of the printersand converting the print data depending on printer languages of each ofthe printers. In the former case, the print data is subject to abroadcast transmission in which no printer is specified, and in thelatter case, the print data is subject to a multicast transmission inwhich each of the printers is specified.

When a print notification (print completion notification or print startnotification) of the print data is received from the printerprint-instructed by a user among the plurality of printers to which theprint data is transmitted by the print data transmission portion 114,the print data deletion instruction portion 115 instructs the otherprinters on the network other than the printer to delete the print data.Thereby, the print data stored in other printers is automaticallydeleted.

Although exemplary configurations of the printers 2 a to 2 c connectedto the print server 1 will be described below, the printer 2 a will beshown as a representative example because the basic structures are samein each of the printers.

The printer 2 a includes an image forming portion 21 that performs aprint processing of print data; a control portion 22 that is constitutedby such as a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and that controls operations ofdevices; an operation portion 23 that performs such as an operation ofprinting print data; a storage portion 24 constituted by such as a harddisc, that stores print data 241; and a network I/F 25 that is connectedto the print server 1 and the PC 3 through a network. Further, thecontrol portion 22 is constituted by a print data storage managementportion 221 that stores and manages the print data 241 transmitted fromthe print data transmission portion 114 of the print server 1 in thestorage portion 24; and a print notification portion 222 that transmitsa print start notification or a print completion notification to theprint server 1 or other printers when a print instruction is made by auser.

When the operation portion 23 receives a print instruction of the printdata 241 stored in the storage portion 24 from a user, the printer 2 aperforms a print processing of the print data 241 by the image formingportion 21. In the case of a hold printing, a password is input fromsuch as ten keys included in the operation portion 23 by the user, andan authentication processing thereof is performed by the control portion22. Password information associated with the print data is previouslytransmitted together with the print data to each of the printers fromthe print server 1, and held by each of the printers.

When the print processing is completed by the image forming portion 21,the print notification portion 222 performs a completion notification ofthe print processing to the print server 1. At this time, the printnotification portion 222 may perform the print completion notificationnot only in the print job units, but for every page that the printing iscompleted, or for every predetermined page. Further, the printnotification portion 222 may perform a start notification of the printprocessing to the print server 1 when the print processing is started bythe image forming portion 21. Hereinafter, the print completionnotification or the print start notification is referred to as a printnotification. The print notification may include information of theamount of print data that the printing is completed (for example, printcompletion to page 2).

FIGS. 2A and 2B are diagrams showing an example of management tablesstored in the storage portion 12 of the print server 1. FIG. 2A shows anexample of a print data management table, and FIG. 2B shows a printermanagement table. The print data transmission portion 114 of the printserver 1 controls a transmission processing of print data based on thesemanagement tables stored in the storage portion 12.

The print data management table shown in FIG. 2A manages such as atransmission destination printer, a transmission page, and a type ofprint data, with respect to each of print data. According to theexample, in the print data of “001”, 10 pages are transmitted to aprinter with an IP address 1, and 5 pages are transmitted to a printerwith an IP address 2. In this way, the print data transmission portion114 may transmit a part of the print data in accordance with a printingorder of the print data to the printer, causing the printers to hold thepart of the print data.

The printer management table shown in FIG. 2B manages such as aprocessing capability (a print performance or a print function), a jobstate, and a communication state, as status information, with respect toeach of the printers. The print data transmission portion 114 maydifferentiate the transmission amount of print data to each of theprinters corresponding to this status information. Examples of theprocessing capability include a printing speed of a printer. In thiscase, the transmission amount of print data to a high-speed printer isincreased, and the transmission amount of print data to a low-speedprinter is reduced. In addition, a management table about printfunctions (such as a hold print function, a sorting function, a staplefunction, and a color print function) of each of the printers may beprovided so that print data is output by a printer having a functionthat is specified by a user with a printer driver of the PC 3.

Further, the job state is, for example, the number of waiting print jobsbeing received by each of the printers, and can be obtained periodicallyor at an arbitrary timing from each of the printers. In this case, thetransmission amount of print data to a printer having a smaller numberof the waiting print jobs is increased, and the transmission amount ofprint data to a printer having a larger number of the waiting print jobsis reduced. In addition, the communication state is, for example, acommunication state of a network for connecting the print server 1 andeach of the printers, and can be obtained by transmitting a “ping”command from the print server 1. In this case, the transmission amountof print data to a printer having an excellent communication state isincreased, and the transmission amount of print data to a printer havinga deteriorated communication state because of such as traffic congestionis reduced. Further, the transmission amount of print data may bedifferentiated depending on a transmission band on a network to whicheach of the printers is connected.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of a hold print processingflow according to the print control system of the present invention.First, when a user performs a print operation from the PC 3, all of theprint data is transmitted to the print server 1 (S1), and the printserver 1 stores the print data from the PC 3 in the storage portion 12(S2). The print server 1 transmits the print data (herein, all pages ofthe print data) stored in the storage portion 12 simultaneously to eachof the printers 2 a, 2 b and 2 c (S3). Each of the printers 2 a, 2 b and2 c stores the print data received from the print server 1 in storageportions (S4).

Then, in the case of the present example, the user inputs a passwordfrom the operation portion 23 of the printer 2 a to print out necessaryprint data from the printer 2 a (S5).

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention. Although basic processing flow is same as the example in FIG.3, it is different in terms of that only a first plurality of pages ofprint data is transmitted to each of the printers. First, when a userperforms a print operation from the PC 3, all of the print data istransmitted to the print server 1 (S11), and the print server 1 storesthe print data from the PC 3 in the storage portion 12 (S12). The printdata herein has 20 pages in total. The print server 1 transmits a firstplurality of pages (herein, 5 pages) of the print data stored in thestorage portion 12 simultaneously to each of the printers 2 a, 2 b and 2c (S13). Each of the printers 2 a, 2 b and 2 c stores the print data (5pages) received from the print server 1 in the storage portions (S14).

In this way, not all pages of the print data, but a start page, orseveral pages from the start page of the print data is previously heldby the printers, and thereby it is possible to use the storage capacitymore efficiently compared with a case when all of the print data is heldby each of the printers.

When printing from an end page in a face-up print, several pages fromthe end page of the print data may be previously held by the printers.

In this way, when the first plurality of pages of the print data istransmitted to each of the printers, the plurality of pages aretransmitted in a printing order from the print start page, regardless ofthe page number.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention. Although basic processing flow is same as the example in FIG.4, it is different in terms of that only a first plurality of pages ofprint data is transmitted to each of the printers, and thereafter when aprinter print-instructed by a user performs a print output, the printserver 1 transmits remaining pages of the print data to the printer.First, when a user performs a print operation from the PC 3, all of theprint data is transmitted to the print server 1 (S21), and the printserver 1 stores the print data from the PC 3 in the storage portion 12(S22). The print data herein has 20 pages in total. The print server 1transmits a first plurality of pages (herein, 5 pages) of the print datastored in the storage portion 12 simultaneously to each of the printers2 a, 2 b and 2 c (S23). Each of the printers 2 a, 2 b and 2 c stores theprint data (5 pages) received from the print server 1 in the storageportions (S24).

Then, in the case of the present example, the user inputs a passwordfrom the operation portion 23 of the printer 2 a to print out necessaryprint data from the printer 2 a (S25). When the user performs an outputoperation in the printer 2 a, a print notification thereof istransmitted to the print server 1, and the print server 1 transmitsremaining pages (herein, from page 6 to page 20) of the print data tothe printer 2 a (S26).

As shown in FIG. 5, in a case where the plurality of printers hold apart of the print data, when a print notification is received from anyone of the plurality of printers, the print data transmission portion114 of the print server 1 may transmit the remaining data of the printdata to the printer.

Thereby, the printer to which the print instruction is made obtains theremaining print data, while performing a print output of a start page orseveral pages from the start page of the print data, thus making itpossible to perform the print output efficiently.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention. Although basic processing flow is same as the example in FIG.4, it is different in terms of that the transmission amount of printdata varies depending on state information (such as a processingcapability) in each of the printers. First, when a user performs a printoperation from the PC 3, all of the print data is transmitted to theprint server 1 (S31), and the print server 1 stores the print data fromthe PC 3 in the storage portion 12 (S32). Note that, the print dataherein has 20 pages in total. The print server 1 simultaneouslytransmits different amounts of the print data among the print datastored in the storage portion 12, depending on state information in eachof the printers 2 a, 2 b and 2 c (S33). Herein, the printer 2 a is ahigh-speed printer so that the largest amount of the print data, 15pages, is transmitted thereto, the printer 2 b is a low-speed printer sothat the smallest amount of the print data, 5 pages, is transmittedthereto, and the printer 2 c is a low-speed network printer so that amiddle amount between the above two of the print data, 10 pages, istransmitted thereto. Then, each of the printers 2 a, 2 b and 2 c storeseach of the print data (herein, 15 pages, 5 pages, and 10 pages,respectively) received from the print server 1 in the storage portions(S34).

As shown in FIG. 6, the print data transmission portion 114 of the printserver 1 may differentiate the transmission amount of the print data tothe plurality of printers, respectively, depending on the stateinformation stored in the storage portion 12.

In this way, a time required for the print output depends on such asprocessing capabilities of each of the printers, and therefore it ispossible to adjust the amount of the print data depending on states ofthe printers so as to shorten the time for the print output.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention. Although basic processing flow is same as the example in FIG.3, it is different in terms of that when a user performs an outputoperation in anyone of the printers, a print notification thereof istransmitted to the print server 1, and the print server 1 that hasreceived the print notification instructs other printers to delete theprint data.

The deletion processing of the print data for other printers may beperformed between the printers without using the print server 1. Forexample, when a print instruction is made to the printer 2 a by anoperation of a user, a print notification thereof is transmitted toother printers 2 b and 2 c from the printer 2 a. In response to theprint notification, the printers 2 b and 2 c delete each of the printdata. This is an example in the case of the printer 2 a, which is alsoapplicable when the print instruction is made for the printers 2 b and 2c. The example of FIG. 7 illustrates a case that the deletion processingof the print data is performed between the printers without using theprint server 1.

First, when a user performs a print operation from the PC 3, all of theprint data is transmitted to the print server 1 (S41), and the printserver 1 stores the print data from the PC 3 in the storage portion 12(S42). The print server 1 transmits the print data stored in the storageportion 12 simultaneously to each of the printers 2 a, 2 b and 2 c(S43). Each of the printers 2 a, 2 b and 2 c stores the print datareceived from the print server 1 in the storage portions (S44).

Then, in the case of the present example, the user inputs a passwordfrom the operation portion 23 of the printer 2 a to print out necessaryprint data from the printer 2 a (S45). A print notification istransmitted from the printer 2 a that has performed the print output toother printers 2 b and 2 c (S46), and the printers 2 b and 2 c that havereceived the print notification delete each of the print data from thestorage portions.

In this way, a plurality of printers on the network are caused to holdthe print data beforehand, and therefore it is possible to perform aprint output of desired print data no matter to which printers a usermakes a print instruction. In addition, the other print data in theprinters other than the printer print-instructed by the user isautomatically deleted, thus making it possible to use the storagecapacity efficiently while attaining the protection of such asconfidential documents.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention. Although basic processing flow is same as the example in FIG.7, it is different in terms of that when a user performs an outputoperation in anyone of the printers, a print notification thereof andinformation of the amount of the print data that the printing iscompleted in the printer are transmitted together to the print server 1,and the print server 1 that has received the information of the amountof the print data instructs other printers to delete pages that theprinting is completed. Similar to the example of FIG. 7, the deletionprocessing of the print data with respect to other printers may beperformed between the printers directly without using the print server1. The example of FIG. 8 illustrates a case that the deletion processingof the print data is performed without using the print server 1.

First, when a user performs a print operation from the PC 3, all of theprint data is transmitted to the print server 1 (S51), and the printserver 1 stores the print data from the PC 3 in the storage portion 12(S52). The print server 1 transmits the print data stored in the storageportion 12 simultaneously to each of the printers 2 a, 2 b and 2 c(S53). Each of the printers 2 a, 2 b and 2 c stores the print datareceived from the print server 1 in the storage portions (S54).

Then, in the case of the present example, the user inputs a passwordfrom the operation portion 23 of the printer 2 a to print out necessaryprint data (herein, to page 2) from the printer 2 a (S55). A printnotification is transmitted from the printer 2 a that has performed theprint output to other printers 2 b and 2 c (S56). The print notificationincludes information of the amount of the print data that the printingis completed by the printer 2 a (herein, output to page 2). When theprinters 2 b and 2 c receive the print notification including theinformation of the amount of the print data that the printing iscompleted, the printers 2 b and 2 c delete each of the print data topage 2 from the storage portions, based on the print notification.

Further, as another example, when the print data deletion instructionportion 115 of the print server 1 receives a print notification from anyone of the plurality of printers, the deletion of the amount of theprint data that the printing is completed by the above printer may beinstructed to the other printers other than the above printer, based oninformation of the amount of the print data that the printing iscompleted, included in the print notification.

In this way, the print data that has been simultaneously transmitted isinstructed to delete for every unnecessary page without deleting allpages, and thereby it is possible to shorten a time to hold the printdata in other printers.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention. Although basic processing flow is same as the example in FIG.8, it is different in terms of that when a first plurality of pages ofprint data is transmitted and thereafter a user performs an outputoperation in any one of the printers, then a print notification thereofand information of the amount of the print data that the printing iscompleted by the printer are transmitted together to the print server 1,and the print server 1 that has received the print notificationinstructs other printers to delete pages that the printing is completed,and subsequently the print server 1 transmits the remaining pages of theprint data to other printers. Similar to the example of FIG. 8, thedeletion processing of the print data with respect to other printers maybe performed directly between the printers without using the printserver 1. The example of FIG. 9 illustrates a case that the deletionprocessing of the print data is performed without using the print server1.

First, when a user performs a print operation from the PC 3, all of theprint data is transmitted to the print server 1 (S61), and the printserver 1 stores the print data from the PC 3 in the storage portion 12(S62). The print data herein has 20 pages in total. The print server 1transmits a first plurality of pages (herein, 5 pages) of the print datastored in the storage portion 12 simultaneously to each of the printers2 a, 2 b and 2 c (S63). Each of the printers 2 a, 2 b and 2 c stores theprint data (herein, 5 pages) received from the print server 1 in thestorage portions (S64).

Then, in the case of the present example, the user inputs a passwordfrom the operation portion 23 of the printer 2 a to print out necessaryprint data (herein, to page 2) from the printer 2 a (S65). A printnotification is transmitted from the printer 2 a that has performed theprint output to other printers 2 b and 2 c (S66). The print notificationincludes information of the amount of the print data that the printingis completed by the printer 2 a (herein, output to page 2). When theprinters 2 b and 2 c receive the print notification including theinformation of the amount of the print data that the printing iscompleted, the printers 2 b and 2 c delete each of the print data topage 2 from the storage portions, based on the print notification.

Further, the print notification from the printer 2 a is transmitted tothe print server 1, and the print server 1 transmits the remaining pagesof the print date (herein, from page 6 to page 20) to the printers 2 band 2 c (S67). In the present example, only 2 of 5 pages are output fromthe printer 2 a. In this case, it is considered that some error occursin the printer 2 a, and the user is likely to cause other printers 2 band 2 c to output the remaining pages. Therefore, the print server 1 isconfigured so as to transmit the remaining pages to other printers 2 band 2 c.

Further, as another example, in a case where a plurality of printershold a part of print data, when the print data transmission portion 114of the print server 1 receives a print notification from any one of theplurality of printers, the remaining data of the print data istransmitted to the other printers other than the printer. Then, theprint data deletion instruction portion 115 may instruct other printersto delete the amount of the print data that the printing is completed bythe above printer, based on the information of the amount of the printdata that the printing is completed, included in the print notification.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention. The present example illustrates a system in which the PC 3performs a series of transmission processing by the print controlapparatus 1 in FIG. 7 described above.

First, when a user performs a print operation from the PC 3, the printdata is transmitted to each of the printers 2 a, 2 b and 2 csimultaneously (S71). Each of the printers 2 a, 2 b and 2 c stores theprint data received from the PC 3 in the storage portions (S72).

Then, in the case of the present example, the user inputs a passwordfrom the operation portion 23 of the printer 2 a to print out necessaryprint data from the printer 2 a (S73). A print notification istransmitted from the printer 2 a that has performed the print output toother printers 2 b and 2 c (S74), and the printers 2 b and 2 c that havereceived the print notification delete each of the print data from thestorage portions.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention. The present example illustrates a system in which the printer2 a performs a series of transmission processing by the print controlapparatus 1 in FIG. 7 described above. In other words, the printer 2 aincludes the transmission destination printer extraction portion 112,the transmission page allocation portion 113, the print datatransmission portion 114, and the print data deletion instructionportion 115, that are included in the print server 1, and can executefunctions of the print server 1.

First, when a user performs a print operation from the PC 3, the printdata is transmitted to the printer 2 a (S81). The printer 2 a stores theprint data received from the PC 3 in the storage portion 24 (S82). Theprinter 2 a transmits the print data stored in the storage portion 24simultaneously to each of the printers 2 b and 2 c (S83). Each of theprinters 2 b and 2 c stores the print data received from the printer 2 ain the storage portions (S84).

Then, in the case of the present example, the user inputs a passwordfrom the operation portion 23 of the printer 2 b to print out necessaryprint data from the printer 2 b (S85). A print notification istransmitted from the printer 2 b that has performed the print output tothe printer 2 a (S86), and the printer 2 a that has received the printnotification instructs the printer 2 c to delete the print data from thestorage portion (S87). The printer 2 c that has received the deletioninstruction deletes the print data in the storage portion.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining an example of a print controlmethod by the print server 1 according to the present invention. Thedescription is made based on the system configuration shown in FIG. 1 inthe present example. First, the print server 1 receives print data fromthe PC 3 (step S101), and then stores the print data in the storageportion 12 (step S102).

Subsequently, the print server 1 transmits the print data stored in thestorage portion 12 to each of the printers 2 a, 2 b and 2 c (step S103).It is determined that whether a certain time has elapsed from thetransmission of the print data (step S104), and when the certain timehas elapsed (in the case of YES), going back to step S103 to repeat fromthe transmission processing of the print data. Alternatively, at stepS104, when the certain time has not elapsed (in the case of NO), it isdetermined that whether a print completion notification is made from anyone of the printers 2 a, 2 b and 2 c (step S105).

At step S105, when no print completion notification is made from any ofthe printers (in the case of NO), the print server 1 moves to step S141shown in FIG. 16 described below. Whether or not the print completionnotification is made is determined, for example, by the method ofdetermining the presence of a flag indicative of the print completionnotification. The print completion notification may be made not only inthe job units, but for every page, or for every predetermined page.Alternatively, at step S105, when the print completion notification ismade, for example, from the printer 2 a (in the case of YES), otherprinters 2 b and 2 c to which the same print data has been transmitted,or other printers 2 b and 2 c to which the same print data having samenumber of pages has been transmitted, are requested to delete the printdata (step S106), and the corresponding print data in the print server 1is deleted (step S107).

FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the print datatransmission processing of step S103 shown in FIG. 12. First, the printserver 1 determines the print data to be allocated to each of theprinters (step S111), and transmits the print data to each of theprinters (step S112).

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the print dataallocation processing of step S111 shown in FIG. 13. First, the printserver 1 allocates a first several pages of the print data to each ofthe printers, by referring to the management table shown in FIG. 2A(step S121).

FIG. 15 is a flowchart for explaining another example of the print dataallocation processing of step S111 shown in FIG. 13. First, the printserver 1 allocates the print data depending on state information (suchas a processing capability, a job state, and communication state) ofeach of the printers, by referring to the management table shown in FIG.2B (step S131).

FIG. 16 is a flowchart for explaining a processing when no printcompletion notification is made at step S105 shown in FIG. 12. First, atstep S105 described above, no print completion notification is made fromany one (for example, the printer 2 a) of the printers 2 a, 2 b and 2 c(in the case of NO), the print server 1 determines whether a request forremaining print data is made from the printer 2 a (step S141).

When the request for the remaining print data is made from the printer 2a at step S141 (in the case of YES), the print server 1 transmits theremaining print data to the printer 2 a that has made the request (stepS142), followed by going back to step S105 in FIG. 12 to repeat theprocessing. Alternatively, when no request for the remaining print datais made from the printer 2 a at step S141 (in the case of NO), it isdetermined whether the number of pages that the printing is completed isreceived from the printer 2 a (step S143).

When the number of pages that the printing is completed is received fromthe printer 2 a at step S143 (in the case of YES), the print server 1goes back to step S105 in FIG. 12 to repeat the processing.Alternatively, when the number of pages that the printing is completedis not received from the printer 2 a at step S143 (in the case of NO),going back to step S104 in FIG. 12 to repeat the processing.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart for explaining an operation example of theprinter 2 a according to the present invention. The description is madebased on the system configuration shown in FIG. 1 in the presentexample. First, the printer 2 a determines whether print data isreceived from the print server 1 (step S151), and when the print data isreceived (in the case of YES), the print data is stored in the storageportion (step S152), followed by going back to step S151 to repeat theprocessing. Alternatively, when the print data is not received at stepS151 (in the case of NO), it is determined whether a print command forthe stored print data is made from a user (step S153). In other words,it is determined whether a password etc., is input by the user in orderto perform a hold print.

When it is determined that no print instruction is made from the user atstep S153 (in the case of NO), the printer 2 a moves to step S171 inFIG. 18 described below. Alternatively, when it is determined that theprint instruction is made from the user at step S153 (in the case ofYES), the print data is started to be printed step S154), and it isdetermined whether the print data has all the pages (step S155).

When it is determined that the print data does not have all the pages atstep S155 (in the case of NO), the printer 2 a requests the remainingpages of the print data to the print server 1 (step S156), followed byreceiving the remaining pages of the print data from the print server 1and continuing the print processing (step S157). Alternatively, when itis determined that the print data has all the pages at step S155 (in thecase of YES), moving to step S158.

In the processing of step S157, a flag indicative of the printcompletion may be transmitted to the print server 1 as the printcompletion notification when the printing is completed for each page, orfor predetermined page.

Subsequently, the printer 2 a determines whether there is a print erroror a print stop command (step S158), and when there is a print error ora print stop command (in the case of YES), the printer 2 a notifies thenumber of pages that the printing is completed to the print server 1(step S159) and stops the printing (step S160), followed by going backto step S151 to repeat the processing. Alternatively, when there is noprint error or print stop command at step S158 (in the case of NO), itis determined whether the printing is completed (step S161).

When it is determined that the printing is completed at step S161 (inthe case of YES), the printer 2 a transmits the print completionnotification to the print server (step S162), followed by going back tostep S151 to repeat the processing. Alternatively, it is determined thatthe printing is not completed at step S161 (in the case of NO), goingback to step S158 to repeat the processing.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart for explaining the processing when no printcommand is made by a user at step S153 shown in FIG. 17. First, theprinter 2 a determines whether the deletion request of the print data ismade from the print server 1 (step S171), and when the deletion isrequested (in the case of YES), all of, or part of the print datarequested to delete is deleted from the storage portion (step S172),followed by going back to step S151 in FIG. 17 to repeat the processing.Alternatively, when no deletion request is made at step S171 (in thecase of NO), going back to step S151 in FIG. 17 to repeat theprocessing.

In order to execute the flows illustrated in FIGS. 17 and 18, theprinter 2 a includes the storage portion 24 that stores print datatransmitted from the print server 1; the operation portion 23(corresponding to the print instruction portion of the presentinvention) that performs a print instruction for the print data storedin the storage portion 24; the image forming portion 21 (correspondingto a print portion of the present invention) that executes the printprocessing of the print data in response to the print instruction fromthe operation portion 23; and the print notification portion 222 that,when the print processing by the image forming portion 21 isinterrupted, notifies information of the amount of the print data thatthe printing is completed before the print interruption.

In this way, even if the printing is interrupted, the printer notifiesthe print server of the amount of the data that the printing iscompleted, the print server can request other printers delete the amountof the data that the printing is completed. Then, it is possible that auser moves to other printers and prints the remaining print data thatthe printing is interrupted from other printers.

Further, even if the printing is interrupted by a print stop instructionby a user, or an error during printing, similarly, it is possible thatthe user moves to other printers and prints the remaining print datathat the printing is interrupted from other printers.

As described above, in the present invention, a plurality of printapparatuses on a network is caused to hold print data in advance, andtherefore desired print data can be printed out no matter to which printapparatus a user makes a print instruction. Further, print data in otherprint apparatuses other than the print apparatus print-instructed by auser is automatically deleted, thus making it possible to use thestorage capacity of the print apparatus efficiently while attaining theprotection of such as confidential documents.

Now referring to FIGS. 19 to 40, other preferred embodiments of theprint control apparatus, the print control system and the printapparatus of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing a exemplary configuration of theprint control system provided with the print control apparatus of thepresent invention. 4 denotes a print server that corresponds to theprint control apparatus of the present invention, 5 a to 5 c denoteprinters that correspond to the print apparatus of the presentinvention, 6 denotes a PC that corresponds to the user terminal of thepresent invention, and 7 denotes a portable terminal (hereinafter,referred as a portable terminal) with a GPS (Global Positioning System)function. The print server 4, the printers 5 a to 5 c, and the PC 6 areconnected through a network, and any of the printers 5 a to 5 c have ahold print function. The print server 4 and the portable terminal 7 areconnected through a public line network.

The print server 4 includes a control portion 41 that is constituted bysuch as a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and that controls operations ofdevices; a storage portion 42 that is constituted by such as a hard discand a nonvolatile memory; and a network I/F 43 that is connected to theprinters 5 a to 5 c and the PC 6 through a network. In addition, thecontrol portion 41 is constituted by a print data storage managementportion 411 that stores and manages print data 421 transmitted from thePC 6 in the storage portion 42; a transmission destination printerextraction portion 412 corresponding to a print apparatus extractionportion that extracts printers to be a transmission destination of theprint data 421; a transmission page allocation portion 413 that performsan allocation of pages to transmit to each of the printers; a print datatransmission portion 414 that transmits the print data 421 to each ofthe printers; a print data deletion instruction portion 415 thattransmits a deletion command of print data to other printers if a printnotification is made from a printer print-instructed by a user; and auser position information acquisition portion 416 that acquires positioninformation of a user.

Each of the portions included in the control portion 41, i.e., the printdata storage management portion 411, the transmission destinationprinter extraction portion 412, the transmission page allocation portion413, the print data transmission portion 414, the print data deletioninstruction portion 415, and the user position information acquisitionportion 416 are constituted as an executable print control program bythe print server 4. The print control program is stored in the storageportion 42 etc., and read by the control portion 41 in executing theprogram to be executed appropriately.

Further, the PC 6 includes a control portion 61 that is constituted bysuch as a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and that controls operations ofdevices; an operation portion 62 that performs such as an operation oftransmitting print data; and a network I/F 63 that is connected to theprinters 5 a to 5 c and the print server 4 through a network. Further,the control portion 61 includes a print data transmission portion 611serving as a printer driver, and a portable terminal informationtransmission portion 612 that transmits portable terminal information ofthe portable terminal 7. The print data transmission portion 611transmits print data to the print server 4 depending on an operationinstruction from the operation portion 62. The portable terminalinformation transmitted by the portable terminal informationtransmission portion 612 includes information (such as an electronicmail address) to access through a network to the portable terminal 7owned by a user who has transmitted the print data.

The portable terminal 7 with a GPS function includes a control portion71 that is constituted by such as a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and thatcontrols operations of devices; an operation portion 72 that performsvarious kinds of operations; and a communication I/F 73 that isconnected to the print server 4 through a public line network. Further,the control portion 71 includes a user position information transmissionportion 711, and transmits position information obtained by a GPSfunction to the print server 4. The user position information may betransmitted in response to a request (inquiry) from the print server 4,or may be transmitted periodically or at an arbitrary timing from theportable terminal 7.

In FIG. 19, when the print server 4 receives the print data 421transmitted from the control portion 61 of the PC 6 on the network, theprint data storage management portion 411 stores the print data 421 inthe storage portion 42. In addition, portable terminal information 422transmitted from the control portion 61 of the PC 6 is stored in thestorage portion 42. When the print data 421 and the portable terminalinformation 422 are stored in the storage portion 42, the transmissiondestination printer extraction portion 412 of the print server 4extracts printers to be a transmission destination of the print data421, based on user position information obtained by the user positioninformation acquisition portion 416.

The user position information acquisition portion 416 identifies theportable terminal 7 used by a user who has transmitted the print datafrom the PC 6, based on the portable terminal information 422 in thestorage portion 42, so as to obtain user position information (forexample, latitude/longitude etc.) from the portable terminal 7. When theuser position information is obtained by the user position informationacquisition portion 416, the user position information is stored in thestorage portion 42 as a history. Not only the portable terminal of thepresent example, but information recording mediums such as an IC card,and a RFID may be used to acquire the user position information.

Subsequently, the transmission destination printer extraction portion412 extracts two or more printers near a user position. User positioninformation of each of the printers is previously stored in the storageportion 42, and printers near the user are extracted by comparing withthe user position obtained by the user position information acquisitionportion 416.

The transmission page allocation portion 413 allocates the number ofpages of the print data to be transmitted to each of the printersextracted by the transmission destination printer extraction portion412. For example, in the case of a high-speed printer, a printprocessing time after a print instruction to the high-speed printer wasmade, may be shortened by increasing the number of pages of the printdata.

The print data transmission portion 414 transmits the allocated pagenumber of the print data by the transmission page allocation portion 413to each of the printers. The print data transmission portion 414 causeseach of the printers to hold the print data when an instruction of ahold print is made from the PC 6. Herein, the print data transmissionportion 414 may transmit by developing the print data into a commonbitmap format to each of the printers to be a transmission destinationof the print data, or may previously store information of a printerlanguage (PDL: Page Description Language) corresponding to each of theprinters and convert the print data depending on printer languages ofeach of the printers to transmit. In the former case, the print data issubject to a broadcast transmission in which no printer is specified,and in the latter case, the print data is subject to a multicasttransmission in which each of the printers is specified.

When a print notification (print completion notification or print startnotification) of the print data is received from the printerprint-instructed by a user among printers to which the print data istransmitted by the print data transmission portion 414, the print datadeletion instruction portion 415 instructs the other printers on thenetwork other than the printer to delete the print data. Thereby, theprint data stored in other printers is automatically deleted.

Although exemplary configuration of the printers 5 a to 5 c connected tothe print server 4 will be described below, the printer 5 a will beshown as a representative example because the basic configuration aresame.

The printer 5 a includes an image forming portion 51 that performs aprint processing of print data; a control portion 52 that is constitutedby such as a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and that controls operations ofdevices; an operation portion 53 that performs such as an operation ofprinting print data; a storage portion 54 constituted by such as a harddisc, that stores print data 541; and a network I/F 55 that is connectedto the print server 4 and the PC 6 through a network. Further, thecontrol portion 52 is constituted by a print data storage managementportion 521 that stores and manages the print data 541 transmitted fromthe print data transmission portion 414 of the print server 4 in thestorage portion 54; and a print notification portion 522 that transmitsa print start notification or a print completion notification to theprint server 4 or other printers when a print instruction is made by auser.

When the operation portion 53 receives a print instruction of the printdata 541 stored in the storage portion 54 from a user, the printer 5 aperforms a print processing of the print data 541 by the image formingportion 51. In the case of a hold printing, a password is inputted fromsuch as ten keys included in the operation portion 53 by a user, and anauthentication processing thereof is performed by the control portion52. Password information associated with the print data is previouslytransmitted together with the print data to each of the printers fromthe print server 4, and held by each of the printers.

When the print processing is completed by the image forming portion 51,the print notification portion 522 performs a completion notification ofthe print processing to the print server 4. At this time, the printnotification portion 522 may perform the print completion notificationnot only in the print job units, but for every page in which theprinting is completed, or for every predetermined page. Further, theprint notification portion 522 may perform a start notification of theprint processing to the print server 4 when the print processing isstarted by the image forming portion 51. Hereinafter, the printcompletion notification or the print start notification is referred toas a print notification. The print notification may include informationabout the amount of print data that the printing is completed in theprint data (for example, print completion to page 2).

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of a print data management tablestored in the storage portion 42 of the print server 4. The print datatransmission portion 414 of the print server 4 controls a transmissionprocessing of print data based on the print data management table storedin the storage portion 42.

The print data management table shown in FIG. 20 manages such asidentification information of a portable terminal, user positioninformation, a transmission destination printer, a transmission page,and a type of print data, with respect to each print data. Positioninformation (not shown) of each of the printers on a network isregistered in the print data management table beforehand, a distancebetween each of the printers can be obtained if the user positioninformation is recognized. Thereby, it is possible for the print server4 to extract printers near a current position of the user.

According to the present example, in the print data of “001”, userposition information is obtained from a portable terminal having anelectronic mail address (ooox@abc.ne.jp), and 10 pages are transmittedto a printer with an IP address 1, and 5 pages are transmitted to aprinter with an IP address 2, respectively. In this way, the print datatransmission portion 414 may transmit a part of the print data inaccordance with a printing order of the print data, causing the printerto hold the part of the print data.

FIG. 21 is a diagram for explaining an example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention. In the print server 4 shown in the present example, when auser performs a print operation from the PC 6, print data isautomatically transmitted to a printer nearest to a current position ofthe user to be held. Then, just by moving to the nearest printer andperforming an output operation, the user can print out desired printdata.

First, when a user performs a print operation from the PC 6, all of theprint data is transmitted to the print server 4 (S201), and the printserver 4 stores the print data from the PC 6 in the storage portion 42(S202). Further, the print server 4 obtains user position informationfrom the portable terminal 7 (S203), and extracts the printer 5 a thatis nearest to the user position of the plurality of printers 5 a, 5 band 5 c.

The print server 4 transmits the print data (herein, all pages) storedin the storage portion 42 to the nearest printer 5 a (S204). The printer5 a stores the print data received from the print server 4 in thestorage portion 54 (S205). Then, the user inputs a password from theoperation portion 53 of the printer 5 a to print out necessary printdata from the printer 5 a (S206).

FIG. 22 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention. Although basic processing flow is same as the example in FIG.21, it is different in terms of that when the user moves and the nearestprinter is changed, print data is transmitted to another nearest printerand all or part of the print data in the printer that stores the printdata but that is positioned farther from the user is deleted.

First, when a user performs a print operation from the PC 6, all of theprint data is transmitted to the print server 4 (S211), and the printserver 4 stores the print data from the PC 6 in the storage portion 42(S212). Further, the print server 4 obtains user position informationfrom the portable terminal 7 (S213), and extracts the printer 5 a thatis nearest to the user position of the plurality of printers 5 a, 5 band 5 c.

The print server 4 transmits the print data (herein, all pages) storedin the storage portion 42 to the nearest printer 5 a (S214). The printer5 a stores the print data received from the print server 4 in thestorage portion 54 (S215).

Then, when the user moves and the nearest printer is changed from theprinter 5 a to the printer 5 b, the print server 4 transmits the printdata to the new nearest printer 5 b (S216). The printer 5 b stores theprint data received from the print server 4 in the storage portion(S217). As a result, the print data in the printer 5 a that stores theprint data but that is positioned farther from the user is deleted(S218), which is performed based on a deletion instruction from theprint server 4.

In the above processing, the storage portion 42 stores a history aboutthe user position information obtained by the user position informationacquisition portion 416. When the user position information obtained bythe user position information acquisition portion 416 is different fromthe previous user position information stored in the storage portion 42,the transmission destination printer extraction portion 412 newlyextracts a printer (herein, the printer 5 b) to be a transmissiondestination of the print data based on the obtained user positioninformation. When a printer is newly extracted by the transmissiondestination printer extraction portion 412, the print data deletioninstruction portion 415 instructs the extracted printer (herein, theprinter 5 a) that is extracted based on the previous user positioninformation to delete the print data.

FIG. 23 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention. Although basic processing flow is same as the example in FIG.21, it is different in terms of that print data is transmitted not onlyto a printer that is nearest to a user, but to a plurality of printersthat are near to the user.

First, when a user performs a print operation from the PC 6, all of theprint data is transmitted to the print server 4 (S221), and the printserver 4 stores the print data from the PC 6 in the storage portion 42(S222). Further, the print server 4 obtains user position informationfrom the portable terminal 7 (S223), and extracts a plurality ofprinters that are near to the user position of the printers on anetwork.

Herein, the printers 5 a, 5 b and 5 c, up to the third printer in anorder of nearer to the user, are extracted.

The print server 4 transmits the print data (herein, all pages) storedin the storage portion 42 simultaneously to each of the printers 5 a, 5b and 5 c (S224). Each of the printers 5 a, 5 b and 5 c stores the printdata received from the print server 4 in the storage portions (S225).

Then, the user inputs a password from the operation portion of any oneof printers 5 a, 5 b and 5 c to print out necessary print data from adesired printer.

FIG. 24 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention. Although basic processing flow is same as the example in FIG.23, it is different in terms of that only a first plurality of pages ofprint data is transmitted to a plurality of printers near to a user.

First, when a user performs a print operation from the PC 6, all of theprint data is transmitted to the print server 4 (S231), and the printserver 4 stores the print data from the PC 6 in the storage portion 42(S232). Further, the print server 4 obtains user position informationfrom the portable terminal 7, and extracts a plurality of printers thatare near to the user position of the printers on a network. Herein, theprinters 5 a, 5 b and 5 c, up to the third printer in an order of nearerto the user, are extracted. Note that, the print data herein has 20pages in total.

The print server 4 transmits a first plurality of pages (herein, 5pages) of the print data stored in the storage portion 42 simultaneouslyto each of the printers 5 a, 5 b and 5 c (S233). Each of the printers 5a, 5 b and 5 c stores the print data (5 pages) received from the printserver 4 in the storage portions (S234).

In the above processing, the print data transmission portion 414transmits a part of the print data to each of the printers 5 a, 5 b and5 c in accordance with a print order of the print data, causing each ofthe printers 5 a, 5 b and 5 c to hold the part of the print data.

In this way, not all pages of the print data, but a start page, orseveral pages from the start page of the print data is previously heldby the printers, and thereby it is possible to use the storage capacitymore efficiently compared with a case when all of the print data is heldby each of the printers.

When printing from an end page in a face-up print, several pages fromthe end page of the print data may be previously held by the printers.

In this way, when the first plurality of pages of the print data istransmitted to the plurality of printers near to the user, the pluralityof pages are transmitted in a printing order from the print start page,regardless of the page number.

FIG. 25 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention. Although basic processing flow is same as the example in FIG.24, it is different in terms of that the transmission amount of printdata is weighted depending on a distance between a user and each of theprinters.

First, when a user performs a print operation from the PC 6, all of theprint data is transmitted to the print server 4 (S241), and the printserver 4 stores the print data from the PC 6 in the storage portion 42(S242). Further, the print server 4 obtains user position informationfrom the portable terminal 7, and extracts a plurality of printers thatare near to the user position of the printers on a network. Herein, theprinters 5 a, 5 b and 5 c, up to the third printer in an order of nearerto the user, are extracted. The print data herein has 20 pages in total.

The print server 4 simultaneously transmits different amounts of theprint data among the print data stored in the storage portion 42,depending on a distance between each of the printers 5 a, 5 b and 5 c(S243). Herein, the printer 5 a is the nearest printer so that 20 pagesof the print data is transmitted thereto, the printer 5 b is the secondnearest printer so that 10 pages of the print data is transmittedthereto, and the printer 5 c is the third nearest printer so that 5pages of the print data is transmitted thereto. Then, each of theprinters 5 a, 5 b and 5 c stores each of the print data (herein, 20pages, 10 pages, and 5 pages, respectively) received from the printserver 4 in the storage portions (S244).

In the above processing, the print data transmission portion 414differentiates the transmission amount of print data to each of theprinters 5 a, 5 b and 5 c, depending on a distance between the userposition based on the user position information and each of the printers5 a, 5 b and 5 c. At this time, it is highly possible that the printernearest to the user position is caused to perform the print output, andtherefore the amount of the print data to be stored is increased so thatthe print output processing can be performed efficiently.

FIGS. 26A and 26B are diagrams for explaining another example of thehold print processing flow according to the print control system of thepresent invention. Although basic processing flow is same as the examplein FIG. 24, it is different in terms of that when a user is moving, theamount of print data to be transmitted to each of the printers isweighted depending on information of =migration route of the user, inother words, a distance from the user to printers, a movement speed ofthe user, and a movement direction of the user.

In FIG. 26A, the printers 5 a, 5 b and 5 c are arranged at equaldistance from the user. When the user is moving at a high speed (briskwalking, or galloping) in a direction of an arrow in FIG. 26A, theprinter 5 a is located in an opposite direction to the movementdirection, and therefore there is little possibility that the printoutput is performed in the printer 5 a and no print data is transmittedthereto. Further, the printer 5 b is located in a vertical direction tothe movement direction, and therefore “50%” of the print data istransmitted thereto. Further, the printer 5 c is located in a samedirection as the movement direction and the user is moving at a highspeed, and therefore the printer 5 c is most likely to perform the printoutput. Thus, “80%” of the print data is transmitted thereto.

In FIG. 26B, the printers 5 a, 5 b and 5 c are arranged at equaldistance from the user. When the user is moving at a low speed (normalwalking) in a direction of an arrow in FIG. 26B, the printer 5 a islocated in an opposite direction to the movement direction, andtherefore “20%” of the print data is transmitted thereto. Further, theprinter 5 b is located in a vertical direction to the movement directionand the user is moving at a low speed, and therefore the printer 5 b ismost likely to perform the print output. Thus, “80%” of the print datais transmitted thereto. Further, the printer 5 c is located in a samedirection as the movement direction, and therefore “50%” of the printdata is transmitted thereto.

In the above processing, the transmission destination printer extractionportion 412 obtains information of the migration route of the user (suchas a distance from a user to printers, a movement speed of a user, andmovement direction of a user) from a history of the user positioninformation stored in the storage portion 42. Then, based on theinformation of the migration route, printers to be a transmissiondestination of the print data are extracted.

Subsequently, the print data transmission portion 414 weights the amountof the print data to be transmitted to each of the printers 5 a, 5 b and5 c extracted by the transmission destination printer extraction portion412, based on the information of the migration route.

Typically, it is considered that there is a high possibility thatprinters on the migration route of the user are instructed to print.Then, based on the information of the migration route, printers having ahigh possibility of being instructed to print are identified to transmitthe print data by increasing the amount of the print data in adescending order of the possibility.

FIG. 27 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention. Although basic processing flow is same as the example in FIG.24, it is different in terms of that when a first plurality of pages ofprint data is transmitted to each of the printers and thereafter aprinter print-instructed by a user performs the print output, the printserver 4 transmits remaining pages of the print data to the printer.

First, when a user performs a print operation from the PC 6, all of theprint data is transmitted to the print server 4 (S251), and the printserver 4 stores the print data from the PC 6 in the storage portion 42(S252). Further, the print server 4 obtains user position informationfrom the portable terminal 7, and extracts a plurality of printers thatare near to the user position of the printers on a network. Herein, theprinters 5 a, 5 b and 5 c, up to the third printer in an order of nearerto the user, are extracted. The print data herein has 20 pages in total.

The print server 4 transmits the first plurality of pages (herein 5pages) of the print data stored in the storage portion 42 simultaneouslyto each of the printers 5 a, 5 b and 5 c (S253). Each of the printers 5a, 5 b and 5 c stores each of the print data (herein 5 pages) receivedfrom the print server 4 in the storage portions (S254).

Then, the user inputs a password from the operation portion 53 of thenearest printer 5 a to print out necessary print data from the printer 5a (S255). When the user performs a print output from the printer 5 a, aprint notification thereof is transmitted to the print server 4, and theprint server 4 transmits remaining pages (herein, from page 6 to page20) of the print data to the printer 5 a (S256).

In the above processing, in a case where the plurality of printers 5 a,5 b and 5 c hold the part of the print data, when the print notificationis received from any one of the printers 5 a, 5 b and 5 c, the printdata transmission portion 414 transmits the remaining pages of the printdata to the printer (herein the printer 5 a).

Thereby, the printer to which the print instruction is made obtains theremaining print data, while performing a print output of a start page orseveral pages from the start page of the print data, thus making itpossible to perform the print output efficiently.

FIG. 28 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention. Although basic processing flow is same as the example in FIG.23, it is different in terms of that when a user performs a print outputin any one of the printers, a print notification thereof is transmittedto the print server 4, and the print server 4 that has received theprint notification instructs other printers to delete the print data.

The deletion processing of the print data for other printers may beperformed between the printers without using the print server 4. Forexample, when a print instruction is made to the printer 5 a by a useroperation, a print notification thereof is transmitted to other printers5 b and 5 c from the printer 5 a. In response to the print notification,the printers 5 b and 5 c delete each of the print data. This is anexample in the case of the printer 5 a, which is also applicable whenthe print instruction is made for the printers 5 b and 5 c. The exampleof FIG. 28 illustrates a case that the deletion processing of the printdata is performed between the printers without using the print server 4.

First, when a user performs a print operation from the PC 6, all of theprint data is transmitted to the print server 4 (S261), and the printserver 4 stores the print data from the PC 6 in the storage portion 42(S262). Further, the print server 4 obtains user position informationfrom the portable terminal 7, and extracts a plurality of printers thatare near to the user position of the printers on a network. Herein, theprinters 5 a, 5 b and 5 c, up to the third printer in an order of nearerto the user, are extracted.

The print server 4 transmits the print data stored in the storageportion 42 simultaneously to each of the printers 5 a, 5 b and 5 c(S263). Each of the printers 5 a, 5 b and 5 c stores each of the printdata received from the print server 4 in the storage portions (S264).

Then, in the case of the present example, the user inputs a passwordfrom the operation portion 53 of the printer 5 a to print out necessaryprint data from the printer 5 a (S265). A print notification thereof istransmitted to other printers 5 b and 5 c from the printer 5 a that hasperformed the print output (S266), and the printers 5 b and 5 c thathave received the print notification delete each of the print data fromthe storage portions.

In this way, the plurality of printers on the network that are near tothe user are caused to hold the print data beforehand, and therefore itis possible to perform a print output of desired print data no matter towhich printers a user makes a print instruction. In addition, the printdata in the other printers other than the printer print-instructed bythe user is automatically deleted, thus making it possible to use thestorage capacity of the printer efficiently while attaining theprotection of such as confidential documents.

FIG. 29 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention. Although basic processing flow is same as the example in FIG.28, it is different in terms of that when a user performs an outputoperation in any one of the printers, a print notification thereof andinformation of the amount of the print data that the printing iscompleted in the printer are transmitted together to the print server 4,and the print server 4 that has received the information of the amountof the print data instructs other printers to delete pages that theprinting is completed. Similar to the example of FIG. 28, the deletionprocessing of the print data with respect to other printers may beperformed between the printers directly without using the print server4. The example of FIG. 29 illustrates a case that the deletionprocessing of the print data is performed without using the print server4.

First, when a user performs a print operation from the PC 6, all of theprint data is transmitted to the print server 4 (S271), and the printserver 4 stores the print data from the PC 6 in the storage portion 42(S272). Further, the print server 4 obtains user position informationfrom the portable terminal 7, and extracts a plurality of printers thatare near to the user position of the printers on a network. Herein, theprinters 5 a, 5 b and 5 c, up to the third printer in an order of nearerto the user, are extracted.

The print server 4 transmits the print data stored in the storageportion 42 simultaneously to each of the printers 5 a, 5 b and 5 c(S273). Each of the printers 5 a, 5 b and 5 c stores each of the printdata received from the print server 4 in the storage portions (S274).

Then, in the case of the present example, the user inputs a passwordfrom the operation portion 53 of the printer 5 a to print out necessaryprint data (herein, to page 2) from the printer 5 a (S275). A printnotification is transmitted from the printer 5 a that has performed theprint output to other printers 5 b and 5 c (S276). The printnotification includes information of the amount of the print data thatthe printing is completed by the printer 5 a (herein, output to page 2).When the printers 5 b and 5 c receive the print notification includingthe information of the amount of the print data that the printing iscompleted, the printers 5 b and 5 c delete each of the print data topage 2 from the storage portions, based on the print notification.

Further, as another example, when the print data deletion instructionportion 415 receives a print notification from any one (herein theprinter 5 a) of the plurality of printers 5 a, 5 b and 5 c, the deletionof the amount of the print data that the printing is completed by theprinter 5 a may be instructed to the printers 5 b and 5 c other than theprinter 5 a, based on information of the amount of the print data thatthe printing is completed from the printer 5 a, included in the printnotification.

In this way, the print data that has been simultaneously transmitted isdeleted for every unnecessary page without deleting all pages, andthereby it is possible to shorten a time to hold the print data in otherprinters.

FIG. 30 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention. 8 denotes an IC card for entering and leaving a room. In thecase of the present example, each of the printers is classified with anarea unit, and when a user leaves an area, printers in the area deletestored print data.

First, the print server 4 needs to recognize an area where the user is.In the case of the area unit, the user position can be recognized bymethods other than a portable terminal. For example, the IC card 8 forentering and leaving each area is applicable.

When the print server 4 recognizes that the user uses the IC card 8 toenter an area A, the print server 4 transmits print data to the printers5 a, 5 b and 5 c in the area A. Then, the printers 5 a, 5 b and 5 c holdthe print data from the print server 4 in the storage portions.

Subsequently, when the print server 4 recognizes that the user uses theIC card 8 to leave the area A, the print server 4 instructs the printers5 a, 5 b and 5 c in the area A to delete the print data stored therein(S281). Further, when it is recognized that the user uses the IC card 8to enter an area B, the print server 4 transmits the print data to theprinter 5 d in the area B (S282).

In the above processing, the print server 4 includes the user positioninformation acquisition portion 416 that recognizes an area where theuser is by the IC card 8 owned by the user; the transmission destinationprinter extraction portion 412 that extracts printers in the recognizedarea; the print data transmission portion 414 that transmits the printdata received from the PC 6 to the printers extracted by thetransmission destination printer extraction portion 412 to cause theprinters to hold the print data; and the print data deletion instructionportion 415 that instructs the printers in the area to delete the printdata when it is detected that the user leaves the area.

FIG. 31 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention. The present example illustrates a system in which the PC 6performs a series of transmission processing by the print server 4 inFIG. 28 described above. Description of the deletion processing of printdata from the printer print-instructed by a user to other printers willbe omitted.

First, the PC 6 obtains user position information from the portableterminal 7 of the user (S291), and extracts a plurality of printers thatare near to the user position of the printers on a network. Herein, theprinters 5 a, 5 b and 5 c, up to the third printer in an order of nearerto the user, are extracted. When the user performs an print operationfrom the PC 6, the print data is transmitted simultaneously to each ofthe printers 5 a, 5 b and 5 c (S292). Each of the printers 5 a, 5 b and5 c stores the print data received from the PC 6 in the storage portions(S293).

FIG. 32 is a diagram for explaining another example of the hold printprocessing flow according to the print control system of the presentinvention. The present example illustrates a system in which the printer5 a performs a series of transmission processing by the print server 4in FIG. 28 described above. In other words, the printer 5 a includes thetransmission destination printer extraction portion 412, thetransmission page allocation portion 413, the print data transmissionportion 414, the print data deletion instruction portion 415, and theuser position information acquisition portion 416, that are included inthe print server 4, and can execute functions of the print server 4.Description of the deletion processing of print data from the printerprint-instructed by a user to other printers will be omitted.

First, when a user performs a print operation from the PC 6, the printdata is transmitted to the printer 5 a (S301). The printer 5 a storesthe print data received from the PC 6 in the storage portion 54 (S302).Further, the printer 5 a obtains user position information from thepotable terminal 7 (S303), and extracts a plurality of printers that arenear to the user position of the printers on a network. Herein, theprinters 5 b and 5 c, up to the second printer in an order of nearer tothe user, are extracted.

The printer 5 a transmits the print data stored in the storage portion54 simultaneously to each of the printers 5 b and 5 c (S304). Each ofthe printers 5 b and 5 c stores the print data received from the printer5 a in the storage portions (S305).

FIG. 33 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the print controlmethod by the print server 4 according to the present invention. Thedescription is made based on the system configuration shown in FIG. 19in the present example. First, the print server 4 receives print dataand portable terminal information from the PC 6 (step S311), and thenstores the print data and the portable terminal information inassociation with each other in the storage portion 42 (step S312).

Subsequently, the print server 4 inquires user position information tothe portable terminal 7 (step S313), and receives the user positioninformation from the portable terminal 7 (step S314). Then, the printserver 4 transmits print data stored in the storage portion 42 to eachof the printers 5 a, 5 b and 5 c (step S315). It is determined thatwhether a certain time has elapsed from the transmission of the printdata (step 316), and when the certain time has elapsed (in the case ofYES), going back to step S313 to repeat from the processing of inquiringuser position information. Alternatively, at step S316, when the certaintime has not elapsed (in the case of NO), it is determined that whethera print completion notification is made from any one of the printers 5a, 5 b and 5 c (step S317).

At step S317, when no print completion notification is made from any ofthe printers (in the case of NO), the print server 4 moves to step S371shown in FIG. 38 described below. Whether or not the print notificationis made is determined, for example, by the method of determining thepresence of a flag indicative of the print notification. The printnotification may be made not only in the job units, but for every page,or for every predetermined page. Alternatively, at step S317, when theprint completion notification is made, for example, from the printer 5 a(in the case of YES), other printers 5 b and 5 c to which the same printdata has been transmitted, or other printers 5 b and 5 c to which thesame print data having same number of pages has been transmitted, arerequested to delete the print data (step S318), and the print data inthe print server 4 is deleted (step S319).

FIG. 34 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the print datatransmission processing of step S315 shown in FIG. 33. First, the printserver 4 determines whether the user position information that has beenpreviously received exists (step S321), and when the previous userposition information does not exist (in the case of NO), the printserver 4 extracts two or more near printers based on current userposition information (step S322). Then, print data to be allocated toeach of the printers is determined (step S323), and transmitted to eachof the printers (step S324).

Alternatively, when the previous user position information exists atstep 321 (in the case of YES), the print server 4 extracts printers nearthe user position (step S325), and determines whether the printers thathave been extracted based on the previously received user positioninformation and the currently extracted printers are different (stepS326).

When it is determined that the previous printers and the currentprinters are different at step S326 (in the case of YES), the printserver 4 determines print data to be allocated to the currentlyextracted printers (step S327). Then, the print data is transmitted tothe currently extracted printers (step S328). Alternatively, when it isdetermined that the previous printers and the current printers are sameat step S326 (in the case of NO), the print data is held as it is,followed by moving to BACK.

Subsequently, the print server 4 determines whether the print data inthe previous printers is a part or all of the print data (step S329),and when the print data in the pervious printers is all of the printdata (in the case of “all” in FIG. 34), the print server 4 transmits adeletion command of all of the print data to the previous printers (stepS330). Alternatively, when the print data in the previous printers is apart of the print data (in the case of “partial” in FIG. 34), the printserver 4 transmits a deletion command of the part of the print data tothe previous printers (step S331).

FIG. 35 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the print dataallocation processing of steps S323 and S327 shown in FIG. 34. First,the print server 4 allocates a first several of pages of the print datato each of the printers based on the print data management table shownin FIG. 20 and user position information (step S341).

FIG. 36 is a flowchart for explaining another example of the print dataallocation processing of steps S323 and S327 shown in FIG. 34. First,the print server 4 allocates the print data so that the number of pagesis larger in an order from a printer near to the user position based onthe print data management table and user position information shown inFIG. 20 (step S351).

FIG. 37 is a flowchart for explaining an extraction processing of nearprinters of step S325 shown in FIG. 34. First, the print server 4determines whether to extract printers based on the movement directionof the user in accordance with such as a flag (step S361). When printersare extracted based on the movement direction of the user (in the caseof YES), a migration route is calculated from the previous user positionand the current user position (step S362) to extract one or more printernear the user position on the movement direction (step S363).Alternatively, in the case where the movement direction of the user isnot extracted at step S361 (in the case of NO), one or more printer isextracted based on the user position information.

FIG. 38 is a flowchart for explaining the processing when no printnotification is made at step S317 shown in FIG. 33. First, when a printcompletion notification is made from any one (for example, the printer 5a) of the printers 5 a, 5 b and 5 c at step S317 described above (in thecase of YES), the print server 4 determines whether a request forremaining print data is made from the printer 5 a (step S371).

When the request for the remaining print data is made from the printer 5a at step S371 (in the case of YES), the print server 4 transmits theremaining print data to the printer 5 a that has made the request (stepS372), followed by going back to step S317 described in FIG. 33 torepeat the processing. Alternatively, when no request for the remainingprint data is made from the printer 5 a at step S371 (in the case ofNO), it is determined whether the number of pages that the printing iscompleted is received from the printer 5 a (step S373).

When the number of pages that the printing is completed is received fromthe printer 5 a at step S373 (in the case of YES), the print server 4goes back to step S317 in FIG. 33 to repeat the processing.Alternatively, when the number of pages that the printing is completedis not received from the printer 5 a at step S373 (in the case of NO),going back to step S316 in FIG. 33 to repeat the processing.

FIG. 39 is a flowchart for explaining an operation example of theprinter 5 a according to the present invention. The description is madebased on the system configuration shown in FIG. 19 in the presentexample. First, the printer 5 a determines whether print data isreceived from the print server 4 (step S381), and when the print data isreceived (in the case of YES), the print data is stored in the storageportion (step S382), followed by going back to step S381 to repeat theprocessing. Alternatively, the print data is not received at step S381(in the case of NO), it is determined whether a print command of thestored print data is made from the user (step S383). In other words, itis determined whether a password etc., is input by the user to perform ahold print.

When the printer 5 a determines that no print command is made from theuser at step S383 (in the case of NO), going back to step S401 shown inFIG. 40 described below. Alternatively, it is determined that the printcommand is made from the user at step S383 (in the case of YES), theprint data is started to be printed (step S384), and it is determinedwhether the print data has all the pages (S385).

When it is determined that the print data does not have all the pages atstep S385 (in the case of NO), the printer 5 a requests the remainingpages of the print data to the print server 4 (step S386), followed byreceiving the remaining pages of the print data from the print server 4and continuing the print processing (S387). Alternatively, when it isdetermined that the print data has all the pages at step S385 (in thecase of YES), moving to step S388.

In the processing of step S387, a flag indicative of the printcompletion may be transmitted to the print server 4 as the printcompletion notification when the printing is completed for each page, orfor predetermined page.

Subsequently, the printer 5 a determines whether there is a print erroror a print stop command (step S388), and when there is a print error ora print stop command (in the case of YES), the printer 5 a notifies thenumber of pages that the printing is completed to the print server 4(step S389) and stops the printing (step S390), followed by going backto step S381 to repeat the processing. Alternatively, when there is noprint error or print stop command at step S388 (in the case of NO), itis determined whether the printing is completed (step S391).

When it is determined that the printing is completed at step S391 (inthe case of YES), the printer 5 a transmits the print completionnotification to the print server 4 (step S392), followed by going backto step S381 to repeat the processing. Alternatively, it is determinedthat the printing is not completed at step S391 (in the case of NO),going back to step S388 to repeat the processing.

FIG. 40 is a flowchart for explaining the processing when no printcommand is made by a user at step S383 shown in FIG. 39. First, theprinter 5 a determines whether the deletion request of the print data ismade from the print server 4 (step S401), and when the deletion isrequested (in the case of YES), all of, or part of the print datarequested to delete is deleted from the storage portion (step S402),followed by going back to step S381 in FIG. 39 to repeat the processing.Alternatively, when no deletion request is made at step S401 (in thecase of NO), going back to step S381 in FIG. 39 to repeat theprocessing.

In order to execute the flows illustrated in FIGS. 39 and 40, theprinter 5 a includes the storage portion 54 that stores print datatransmitted from the print server 4; the operation portion 53(corresponding to the print instruction portion of the presentinvention) that performs a print instruction for the print data storedin the storage portion 54; the image forming portion 51 (correspondingto a print portion of the present invention) that executes the printprocessing of the print data in response to the print instruction fromthe operation portion 53; and the print notification portion 522 that,when the print processing by the image forming portion 51 isinterrupted, notifies information of the amount of the print data thatthe printing is completed before the print interruption.

In this way, even if the printing is interrupted, the printer notifiesthe print server of the amount of the data that the printing iscompleted, the print server can request other printers delete the amountof the data that the printing is completed. Then, it is possible that auser moves to other printers and prints the remaining print data thatthe printing is interrupted from other printers.

Further, even if the printing is interrupted by a print stop instructionby a user, or an error during printing, similarly, it is possible thatthe user moves to other printers and prints the remaining print datathat the printing is interrupted from other printers.

Embodiments of the program and the recording medium storing data thereinto realize the function of the print control of the present inventionwill be described. As the recording medium, specific examples of therecording medium, including a CD-ROM (-R/-RW), a magnet-optical disc, aDVD-ROM (-R/-RW/-RAM), a FD, a HD, a BD, a flash memory, a memory card,a memory stick, and other various kinds of ROMs or RAMs, is assumed. Thecomputer is caused to execute functions as the apparatuses in eachembodiment of the present invention described above, and the program forrealizing the function of the print control is recorded on such arecording medium to deliver, and thereby the function is easilyrealized. In addition, a recording medium as described above is loadedto an information processing apparatus such as a computer to read theprogram by the information processing apparatus, or the program isstored on a recording medium provided in the information processingapparatus and read optionally, resulting that the function of the printcontrol according to the present invention can be executed.

As described above, in the present invention, two or more printapparatuses near a user position on a network is caused to hold printdata in advance, and therefore desired print data can be printed out nomatter to which print apparatuses a user makes the print instruction.Further, print data in print apparatuses other than the print apparatusprint-instructed by a user is automatically deleted, thus making itpossible to use the storage capacity of the print apparatus efficientlywhile attaining the protection of such as confidential documents.

According to the present invention, a plurality of print apparatuses ona network are caused to hold print data beforehand, and therefore it ispossible to perform a print output of desired print data no matter towhich print apparatuses a user makes a print instruction. In addition,print data in print apparatuses other than the print apparatusprint-instructed by a user is automatically deleted, thus making itpossible to use the storage capacity of the print apparatus efficientlywhile attaining the protection of such as confidential documents.

In addition, two or more print apparatuses near a user position on anetwork are caused to hold print data in advance, and therefore desiredprint data can be printed out no matter to which print apparatuses auser makes a print instruction. Further, print data in other printapparatuses other than the print apparatus print-instructed by a user isautomatically deleted, thus making it possible to use the storagecapacity of the print apparatus efficiently while attaining theprotection of such as confidential documents.

1-9. (canceled)
 10. A print control apparatus that is connected to aplurality of print apparatuses having a hold print function through anetwork, comprising: a user position information acquisition portionthat acquires user position information; a print apparatus extractionportion that extracts two or more print apparatuses near the userposition based on the acquired user position information; a print datatransmission portion that transmits print data received from a userterminal to each of the print apparatuses extracted by the printapparatus extraction portion to cause each of the print apparatuses tohold the print data; a print data deletion instruction portion that,when a print notification of the print data is received from any one ofeach of the print apparatuses, instructs other print apparatuses otherthan the print apparatus to delete the print data.
 11. The print controlapparatus as defined in claim 10, wherein the print data transmissionportion transmits a part of the print data to each of the printapparatuses in accordance with a printing order of the print data tocause each of the print apparatuses to hold the part of the print data.12. The print control apparatus as defined in claim 10 or 11, whereinthe print data transmission portion differentiates a transmission amountof the print data to each of the print apparatuses depending on adistance between the user position based on the user positioninformation and each of the print apparatuses.
 13. The print controlapparatus as defined in claim 11, wherein in a case where each of theprint apparatuses holds the part of the print data, when a printnotification of the print data is received from any one of each of theprint apparatuses, the print data transmission portion transmitsremaining data of the print data to the print apparatus.
 14. The printcontrol apparatus as define in claim 10, wherein when the printnotification of the print data is received from any one of each of theprint apparatuses, the print data deletion instruction portion instructsthe other print apparatuses other than the print apparatus to delete anamount of the print data that a printing is completed by the printapparatus, based on information, included in the print notification, ofthe amount of the print data that the printing is completed by the printapparatus.
 15. The print control apparatus as defined in claim 10,further comprising a storage portion that stores a history about theuser position information acquired by the user position informationacquisition portion, wherein when the user position information acquiredby the user position information acquisition portion and previous userposition information stored in the storage portion are different, theprint apparatus extraction portion extracts new print apparatuses to bea transmission destination of the print data.
 16. The print controlapparatus as defined in claim 15, wherein when the new print apparatusesare extracted by the print apparatus extraction portion, the print datadeletion instruction portion instructs the print apparatuses extractedbased on the previous user position information to delete the printdata.
 17. The print control apparatus as define in claim 15, wherein theprint apparatus extraction portion acquires information about amigration route of a user from the history of the user positioninformation stored in the storage portion to extract the printapparatuses to be the transmission destination of the print data basedon the information about the migration route.
 18. The print controlapparatus as defined in claim 17, wherein the print data transmissionportion weights an amount of the print data to be transmitted to each ofthe print apparatuses extracted by the print apparatus extractionportion based on the information about the migration route.
 19. Theprint control apparatus as defined in claim 10, wherein the userposition information acquisition portion communicates with a portableterminal having a GPS function used by a user to acquire the userposition information. 20-23. (canceled)
 24. A print apparatus that isconnected to a user terminal through a network, comprising: a networkinterface that is connected to other plurality of print apparatuseshaving a hold print function through a network; a user positioninformation acquisition portion that acquires user position information;a print apparatus extraction portion that extracts two or more otherprint apparatuses near the user position based on the acquired userposition information; a print data transmission portion that transmitsprint data received from the user terminal to the each of other printapparatuses extracted by the print apparatus extraction portion to causeeach of the other print apparatuses to hold the print data; and a printdata deletion instruction portion that, when a print notification of theprint data is received from any one of each of the other printapparatuses, instructs other print apparatuses other than the printapparatus to delete the print data.
 25. The print apparatus connected tothe print control apparatus as defined in any one of claims 10 to 19through the network, further comprising: a storage portion that storesthe print data transmitted from the print control apparatus; a printinstruction portion that performs a print instruction with respect tothe print data stored in the storage portion; a print portion thatexecutes a print processing of the print data by the print instructionfrom the print instruction portion; and a print notification portionthat, when the print processing by the print portion is interrupted,notifies information of an amount of the print data that the printing iscompleted before interrupting the printing.